Chief selector of Bangladesh national cricket team Minhajul Abedin on Thursday showed his confidence regarding the success of the visiting side in the forthcoming two-Test series against South Africa. The Tigers will be touring the African country for the third time for a Test series and the visiting side had the worst possible track record in the bouncy surfaces losing all the matches by innings margin in the previous four Test matches.
Bangladesh suffered humiliating defeats in their first Test tour in South Africa losing both the matches by innings and 107 and 160 runs respective margin back in 2002.
The players agonised the same pain in 2008 when they last visited South Africa and hurt once again by innings defeats of 129 and 48 runs respectively.
Minhajul who will also take charge as a manager apart from his selection duty of the national team in the upcoming series in place of regular manager Khaled Mahmud who was yet to overcome his illness was optimistic over the Tigers success in South Africa as they were playing fabulous game of Test cricket in last one year and so.
‘It will be a completely different series for us. We all have the experiences about the South African conditions especially we’ll have to play in the bouncy and fast wickets so it’ll be a challenging series for us. We have been playing excellent game of Test cricket in recent past so I hope that we’ll do well in South Africa,’ said Minhajul to reporters at Sher-e Bangla National Stadium in MIrpur.
Although the former national team all-rounder would go with the team as a manager of the squad, he declined that he would influence over the team selection over there.
‘I think the team management will decide on the matter. There is obviously a plan of the coach. I can’t say right here that which plan we will execute in the matches. We’ll make all the plans going over there and we’ll finalise it there also.’
The chief selector revealed that the upcoming Test series would be more challenging especially for the top-order batsmen as some of them were struggling with their recent form although he was confident that they would be get back in runs in very recent times.
Apart from Tamim, other top-order batsmen like Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes found themselves in very hard times as they underperformed in their last home Test series against Australia but selectors kept their belief in these players for the next away series.
‘I think it will be more challenge for the top-order batsmen. If the players are not in form, it is obviously a matter of concern for us,’ he said.
-With New Age input
